I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manually arm powered swimming aid device which both supports the swimmer and also supplements the usual paddling action to help the beginning swimmer learn to swim and to provide a water toy.
II. Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of known manually arm powered swimming aids which also provide support to the swimmer. U.S. Pat. No. 1,102,526 has a flotation ring to encircle a swimmer which supports a pair of opposed paddle wheels which are operated by a manual crank. U.S. Pat. No. 1,777,749 has a pair of flotation disks which carry a number of hinged paddle elements and are interconnected by a crank. The immersed swimmer rotates the disks by the paddle wheel which provides both flotation and propulsion. U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,213 is quite similar except that the flotation elements have fixed radial elements formed into the disk but the purpose and operation is quite similar. U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,202 has a pair of paddles attached to a surfboard which are crank operated by a swimmer lying on the surfboard for support. U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,636 has a flotation structure in which the operator is seated for support with two independent opposed arm operated paddle wheels for propulsion.
All of these devices rely strictly on rotation of the paddle wheels for propulsion which bears no relationship to a normal arm swimming stroke. Those that utilize the paddle wheel solely to support the swimmer in the water are large unwieldly structures which are bulky to store and transport. Further, a large amount of the energy required to rotate a paddle wheel supporting a swimmer is wasted because when the paddle wheel is largely immersed in the water, as results when it is the sole support, the individual paddles enter and leave the water at a corresponding large angle. As a consequence, the paddle moves the water downward and rearward while entering the water and upward and rearward when leaving the water. Since only the movement of water which is rearward versus the direction of movement actually propels the swimmer, all additional energy spent in moving the water vertically is wasted and since water is a very dense medium this wasted energy is considerable.
My invention avoids these problems by permitting a swimming motion which closely mimics the normal arm motions of a swimmer to aid in more rapid learning. Only one blade is used for each paddle rather than a paddle wheel which greatly reduces storage and transportation problems. Only one blade is rotated at a time similar to an oar engaging the water while the blade motion is horizontal which eliminates waste energy in moving the water vertically and which mimics a normal swimming stroke.